Judges 7-8

God’s message to me: God wants the world to know He had a hand in my greatest accomplishments. Gideon called up an army of 32,000 men. God told him to send home those who were afraid, as the rules of engagement given in the law state. 22,000 went home and he was left with 10,000 but God said it was still to much. He wanted the men to drink from the nearby creek. 300 men lapped water from their hands and the rest got on their knees. God told him to send home the ones that got on their knees.

I’ve seen this taught as taking the least capable. The ones who got on their bellies to drink. The description the bible gives seems more to imply that the 300 he kept were the ones who kept their heads up and were vigilant. Whether God sent Gideon to war with 300 dunces or with 300 of Israel’s elite He still sent him to war against an army to large to count with only 300 men. The previous few books have numbered armies in the millions and been relatively specific about total troops. for this army to be innumerable they must have numbered at least 3 million or more. I would have to look back to be certain but I don’t remember a group larger than about 2.5 million being mentioned as countable so I assume they could count to at least that high or a little higher. This army spread across the land like a plague of locusts and with the same result on crops.

Promises: God will do the impossible for you to make Himself known. Gideon faced an army to large to number with only 300 men. God saw to it that those 300 men set the enemy on the run, chased them down over hill and dale until they were all destroyed and then came back to punish the cities which refused the army help and hospitality. When all was said and done the Midianites were completely defeated and all 300 men plus Gideon returned home unharmed.

Commands: Trust God to do the impossible. After bringing fire from a rock and manipulating the dew around a fleece I’m certain God knew Gideon needed reassurances. He told him to spy in the camp of the enemy where he heard them dreaming of destruction by the mighty Gideon, of Israel. Gideon knew there was no reason these people should even know his name let alone fear him. He was just a farm boy from a weak family who had never been in a fight before. That was enough to convince him that God would make him victorious because God had already put fear in the hearts of the enemy and had given that fear the name of Gideon.

Timeless principles: People fall into sin far to easily. Gideon decided to create his own ephod from the captured gold of the Midianites. In addition to being an imitation of the holy ephod of the high priest(something he shouldn’t have made in the first place) it also became an object of worship. The Israelites and Gideans own family “played the harlot” with it(worshipped it as an idol). This had been made from the earrings and ornaments of the Midianite kings. Much of their jewelry was symbolic of their Gods and should never have been considered for any thing that even looked like it belonged in the temple.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: What seems like a reasonable and proper method to a man has no bearing on what God can do. Coming against an enemy on the way into the promised land the Israelites decided to send only a small force rather than the whole army. The enemy city was small and not well defended. With sin in the camp and the failure to consult God’s plan they lost the battle. When the sin was purged God told them to use the whole army. In Gideon's battle it was the opposite. His army was under whelming and even recruiting the whole army of Israel would have left him with a force to small to accomplish the job in the eyes of man. Instead God told him to send home most of the army he had and sent him to war with a force of 300 men against odds of probably 30,000 to 1. No one would expect success in those conditions yet, God made certain that the tiny force destroyed the army to large to be numbered.

IF GOD SAYS IT CAN BE DONE YOU MAY REST ASSURED THAT IT CAN. The Israelites had left several nations in the promised land because they didn’t think they could fight them. God had told them they could win but they didn’t really try. This war proved what God had said but, it was too late. The Israelites had disobeyed God’s command to destroy the enemy and God left that enemy to be a thorn in their side and a tempting snare.

more to learn for in-depth study: “Confusion to the enemy” The old military toast certainly went into play here. When Gideon and his 300 men exposed their torches and blew their horns, the enemy lashed out in a blind panic and wound up attacking each other instead of the Israelites.

As the Midianites fled, Gideon sent runners ahead to tell the other Israelites and Allies to guard the watering spots and stop the enemy as it ran. The men of Ephraim had not been called up for Gideon's army. After killing Oreb and Zeeb, two of the Midianite leaders, they complained to Gideon about having not been called to join the fight. In a wonderful bit of diplomacy he asked which was better, the leftovers of their own vineyards or the whole crop from Abiezer? Being proud of their grapes the people of Ephraim recognized the complement and saw that they had gotten credit for dealing with two of the midianite leaders so they left it at that.

Along the way Gideon asked for food, water and a place to rest for his men at the cities he passed. Several refused out of fear of the enemy Generals. Gideon promised to repay their unkindness after he dealt with the enemy.

When Gideon caught up to the last of the Mideanite army they were down to two kings and 15,000 men. 120,000 men from this part of the army had already been killed by Gideon’s small force. That’s 400 kills per soldier on average although the Lord dealt with many of them through confusion which resulted in killing each other. Despite being exhausted from battle and chasing Gideon’s men went gladly to battle against 50 to 1 odds. They routed the army and chased down the kings to capture them.

With the battle over Gideon caught a man from Succoth and interrogated him to get the names of the leaders of that city. It was one of the cities that refused him help. He showed the city the kings they had feared then captured the 77 leaders of the city and punished them with wild briers. When he got to the city of Penuel he tore down it’s tower and killed it’s men.

Interesting note: The Crescent moon symbol is still a common symbol of middle eastern and Muslim countries. Here it is described as being a common ornament of the Midianites and Ishmaelites. Muhammad would not be born until 570 AD and would not begin writing the Koran until 610 AD. He would not begin preaching until 613 AD and Islam and the Islamic calendar begin when Muhammad and his followers move to Medina in 622 AD to avoid those who don’t like the new religion. The next 8 years are filled with war against the tribes in Mecca. The Religion of Islam, was effectively born in 613 AD, more than 1000 years (probably much more) after Gideon took those Crescent symbols from the enemy.

tomorrow: Judges 9-10

Numbers 31-32

God’s message to me: Ask and it shall be given. When the Children of Gad and Reuben saw the lands they had just conquered on the way into the promised land they recognized their value for raising cattle and sheep. These two tribes were the primary ranchers of the nation of Israel and asked to be given this land rather than seeking other land in the promised land. Moses warned them against repeating the sin of their parents in hiding in fear from those living in the promised land.

These Israelites saw the opportunity to build a home base. They could leave their flocks and herds secured on ranches in this region and let their families enjoy the protection of homes and cities here while they went into the promised land to fight with the rest of the Israeli army. Their willingness to continue fighting beside their brothers to take the inheritance promised by God, allowed them to receive what they asked for. In doing so they provided a secure base of operations to the Israelites during the initial forays and expanded the territory which would eventually belong to their nation. They Expanded the border and reinforced it with their presence while making good use of suitable land that would otherwise have been abandoned and, potentially taken by enemies later.

Promises: God will give you victory and When He is standing with you no one can stand against you. After the war with the Midianites the Israelites found that none of the soldiers they sent to war had been killed. Everyone had returned home in victory. This was something of a pattern which continues today. as the Enemies of God’s Chosen People come against their tiny nation they are repeatedly beaten back and overwhelmed by a much smaller and less prepared Israeli Army.

I give all due credit to the Israeli intelligence and military structures but, most of the major wars of Modern Israel began when the bulk of those forces were on holiday at home and the military was completely out of place for proper defense. Out manned, out gunned, out sized, outmaneuvered and overwhelmed they nevertheless ended these wars in absolute victory with control over large portions of the invading countries territory. They managed these victories in a matter of days in most cases and within a handful of weeks at most.

Commands: You can’t conquer sin and then bring it’s source into your home. Give God the glory and honor for your victories. And, ask for what you desire. It is God’s pleasure to fulfill your desires and he only withholds those things if He has better for us waiting or if they will be harmful for us.

Timeless principles: There is nothing wrong with pity and mercy but it can go to far. The Israelites killed every Midianite inclined to war but saved the women and children. This is merciful and caring but, the women were a major cause of the sin that brought them to war in the first place and many of the children were already indoctrinated into the lifestyle that had led to the war. As for the separation of the girls, I can only say that young ladies were not seen as much of an influence. Subject to the head of household they did not appear to hold influence.

Then as now, women were a major influence on society. Reading though the scriptures you will find one story after another of how the women made major differences in outcomes. Stealing and concealing idols, influencing decision, taking actions and convincing their husbands to do so. For good or ill women made major changes in the course of history. Sarah giving Abraham her handmaid, Rachel and Leah giving Jacob their maids, Rebeka driving Jacobs deception of his father, Eve offering Adam the apple and so much more yet to come. Historical persons may not have seen women as powerful or influential but the writers of the bible certainly saw what these women could and did do to influence events.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: look past the superficial view of political correctness and humanistic ethics and you can see the truth of what was done in biblical times. While this superficial view has lead to a lot of man made doctrines which enjoy broad support, the rule of the majority can never outweigh the rule of God.

Women are subject to their husbands but that doesn’t make them weak or ineffective. War kills a lot more than just soldiers but, that isn’t always evil. The spoils of war is one of the oldest traditions and, that tradition leads to prosperity so long as those spoils don’t include things which will lead us into the sin of the enemy. Frankly, the subject of war could lead to several long articles so I think I will leave it to readers to bring their opinion to this discussion. I only ask that your opinion be backed by scripture.

more to learn for in-depth study: Sterilization. When bringing home spoils of ware they had to be cleaned. Anything capable of surviving fire was put through fire and the rest was scrubbed thoroughly in water to clean away anything that might have been brought back with it. It’s not hard for modern eyes to recognize sterilization techniques.

The revenge against the Midianites seems harsh. Look at the middle east today. There are a number of documentaries including Obsession: modern Islam’s war against the west which clearly show the problem. Five year old children are taught to hate and to desire martyrdom through Jihad and suicide bombing. boys as young as seven and some younger are given an assault rifle and taught to fight as soon as they are big enough to handle the weapon. The same happens in Africa and even in parts of South America, not to mention Asia. How many times have you heard the stories from veterans of Korea, Vietnam, The Gulf War and others, of children shooting at them or carrying bombs to their camps. How many teenage and, more recently, pre-teen boys and girls will be used as suicide bombers before we understand that war is not and never will be the pleasant, politically correct conflict we want to believe in.

The Geneva conventions convince a lot of people that we can fight a war with rules. There is a basic problem with this theory. Since the conventions were enacted, none of the countries subscribing to them has fought each other. You might say that societies capable of establishing rules for civilized warfare have outgrown their use for warfare. Historians would disagree with me on that point because it hasn’t proven true in the past but it is true that everyone we have fought since then has ignored the Geneva Conventions. Our respect for those rules of warfare has not changed their tactics or their will in the least. Their own moral convictions place no value on the convictions that led to the Geneva Conventions being written.

Fighting within the bounds of the Geneva Conventions isn’t wrong, it is living up to the moral standard we set for ourselves. We must understand; however, that the enemy has no such standard. Their moral standard is completely different and they laugh at our naiveté in following such a code. Whenever you see the opposition leaders cry about our violating Geneva conventions you know what we are doing is effective. They are attempting to undermine our support for the effort by acting offended when most of their troops have never even heard the concept of the conventions. They will break every rule in that book and accuse us of doing so. It is for this reason that Israel, in so many cases, was ordered by God to wipe out the people.
Doing so got rid of the ideology and the resistance. Failure to do so, in most recorded cases, resulted in the Israelites later adopting the ways of the captured people and sinning against God.

The first note in this story is evidence of that. Two key problems with the Midianites were prostitution and idolatry that began with socializing. By bringing the women and children back alive, the Israeli army brought home the very problem they set out to eliminate.

tomorrow: Numbers 33-35